{"id":2328,"date":"2026-10-08T15:03:47","date_gmt":"2026-10-08T10:03:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=2328"},"modified":"2026-10-08T15:03:47","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T10:03:47","slug":"spanish-woman-whose-eviction-ignited-housing-protests-dies-at-87","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=2328","title":{"rendered":"Spanish woman whose eviction ignited housing protests dies at 87"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Maricarmen Abascal, the 87-year-old Spanish woman whose dramatic eviction<\/a> last month sparked \u200bmass housing protests that led to an early election, has died, the Madrid tenants\u2019 union said on Wednesday, as \u200cthousands demonstrated over her death.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Abascal had been in hospital for severe anxiety and exhaustion since her eviction on September 23 from her home of more than 70 years, when police and social workers removed her by stretcher.<\/p>\n

Her case ignited protests over a mounting housing crisis including a shortage of homes and surging rents. Activists \u200bcamped out in a major Madrid square.<\/p>\n

Following news of Abascal\u2019s death on Wednesday, thousands marched from the square, Puerta del \u200bSol, towards parliament, chanting: \u201cThis is not a death. It\u2019s a murder!\u201d A cause of death was not announced.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis \u2060was a completely avoidable death that symbolises the drama that is the housing crisis in Spain,\u201d said 36-year-old marcher Dario Gomez in \u200bMadrid.<\/p>\n

Demonstrators also held protests in Barcelona.<\/p>\n

Trade unions on Wednesday announced<\/a> a nationwide general strike over housing issues on November 11.<\/p>\n

The protests, along with parliament\u2019s rejection last \u200bweek<\/a> of decrees aimed at curbing evictions and limiting rent pressures, prompted Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to call an early election<\/a> for November 29.<\/p>\n

Sanchez is seeking to shift the political narrative from his government\u2019s handling of a migrant crisis<\/a> in Spain\u2019s North African enclave of Ceuta and a series of corruption cases<\/a> involving his Socialist Party \u200band his family to the housing crisis, hoping to tap into growing resentment over rising rents.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow, following her passing, we are left with the example \u200bof the fight she waged and the legacy Maricarmen has left behind. And, above all, we will honour what she always asked of us: \u2018Fight, keep \u200cfighting for \u2060what is yours,\u2019\u201d the tenants\u2019 union said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Sanchez lamented Abascal\u2019s death in an X post. \u201cA hug as well to all of us who feel this loss as our own today,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

The leader of Spain\u2019s centre-right opposition People\u2019s Party, Alberto N\u00fa\u00f1ez Feij\u00f3o, said on X that Abascal\u2019s death shouldn\u2019t be politicised. There should be \u201cno campaigns, no political parties, no other interests here,\u201d he wrote. \u201cIn the face of someone\u2019s death, respect \u200bis all that matters.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/a>House bought by investment fund<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Abascal was evicted after \u2060an investment fund bought her house. Several days later, her lawyer said she reached an eight-year agreement with her landlord that would allow her to return home<\/a> and pay rent at the same prior amount.<\/p>\n

She had \u200bplanned to sign the deal once she felt better, but never had the opportunity to leave hospital.<\/p>\n

A neighbour of \u200bAbascal, whose home \u2060was near Madrid\u2019s famed Retiro Park, said she was shaped by living through Spain\u2019s authoritarian Franco regime, which ended in 1975.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was a fighter, with very clear ideas, a somewhat broad sense of justice, and, above all, perhaps a social conscience and ideas about solidarity,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Guillermo Ruiz, 31, \u2060an audiovisual \u200bspecialist at the mass march, said he felt pessimistic about change. \u201cThe best homage we \u200bcan pay to her is to continue the fight, continue to mobilise, fight for a dignified life and ensure that what happened to her doesn\u2019t happen to anyone else.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Maricarmen Abascal, the 87-year-old Spanish woman whose dramatic eviction last month sparked \u200bmass housing protests that led to an early election, has died, the Madrid tenants\u2019 union said on Wednesday, as \u200cthousands demonstrated over her death. Abascal had been in hospital for severe anxiety and exhaustion since her eviction on September 23 from her home of more than 70 years, when police and social workers removed her by stretcher. Her case ignited protests over a mounting housing crisis including a shortage of homes and surging rents. Activists \u200bcamped out in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2328","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english"],"gutentor_comment":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2328","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2328"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2328\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2328"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2328"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}